COMPARING UTILITY AND WARRANTY OF SERVICES

• US 20110106722A1
• Filed: 11/02/2009
• Published: 05/05/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/02/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Durniak, Timothy, Kraemer, James R., Angell, Robert L., Friedlander, Robert R.
• Granted Patent: US 9,483,746 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/348
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063 Operations research, analysis or management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06315 Needs-based resource requirements planning or analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0639 Performance analysis of employees; Performance analysis of enterprise or organisation operations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/067 Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 90/00 Systems or methods specially adapted for administrative, commercial, financial, managerial or supervisory purposes, not involving significant data processing

Abstract

An invention for comparing utility and warranty of services in an information (IT) stack is provided. Embodiments of this invention are directed to comparing utility and warranty of services in an information technology (IT) stack comprising a plurality of layers, at least one of the plurality of layers having a set of services. In these embodiments, a utility and warranty tool provides this capability. Specifically, the utility and warranty tool comprises a determination component configured to determine, at each layer of the IT stack, a required utility and warranty (RUW) value for each of the set of services, wherein the RUW value represents a desired solution for implementing a business process; and determine, at each layer of the IT stack, an available utility and warranty (AUW) value for each of the set of services, wherein the AUW value is a measure of an ability of each of the set of services to satisfy the RUW at each layer of the IT stack. The utility and warranty tool further comprises a comparison component configured to compare the RUW value against the AUW value at each layer of the IT stack to determine whether each of the set of services satisfies the desired solution for implementing the business process.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for comparing utility and warranty of services in an information technology (IT) stack comprising a plurality of layers, at least one of the plurality of layers having a set of services, the method comprising:

determining, at each layer of the IT stack, a required utility and warranty (RUW) value for each of the set of services, wherein the RUW value represents a desired solution for implementing a business process;

determining, at each layer of the IT stack, an available utility and warranty (AUW) value for each of the set of services, wherein the AUW value is a measure of an ability of each of the set of services to satisfy the RUW at each layer of the IT stack; and

comparing the RUW value against the AUW value at each layer of the IT stack to determine whether each of the set of services satisfies the desired solution for implementing the business process.

2. The method of claim 1, the determining the RUW value further comprising calculating the RUW value at each layer of the IT stack starting with an end user layer of the IT stack and moving towards a data center layer of the IT stack.

3. The method of claim 2, the determining the AUW value further comprising calculating the AUW value at each layer of the IT stack starting with the data center layer of the IT stack and moving towards the end user layer of the IT stack.

4. The method of claim 1, the determining the RUW value and the AUW value further comprising calculating the RUW value and the AUW value using a mathematical model.

5. The method of claim 1, the determining the RUW value and the AUW value further comprising calculating the RUW value and the AUW value using actual observed values.

6. A system for comparing utility and warranty of services in an information technology (IT) stack comprising a plurality of layers, at least one of the plurality of layers having a set of services, the system comprising:

at least one processing unit;

memory operably associated with the at least one processing unit; and

a utility and warranty tool storable in memory and executable by the at least one processing unit, the utility and warranty tool comprising;

a determination component configured to;

determine, at each layer of the IT stack, a required utility and warranty (RUW) value for each of the set of services, wherein the RUW value represents a desired solution for implementing a business process; and

determine, at each layer of the IT stack, an available utility and warranty (AUW) value for each of the set of services, wherein the AUW value is a measure of an ability of each of the set of services to satisfy the RUW at each layer of the IT stack; and

a comparison component configured to compare the RUW value against the AUW value at each layer of the IT stack to determine whether each of the set of services satisfies the desired solution for implementing the business process.

7. The utility and warranty tool according to claim 6, the determination component is further configured to calculate the RUW value at each layer of the IT stack starting with an end user layer of the IT stack and moving towards a data center layer of the IT stack.

8. The utility and warranty tool according to claim 7, the determination component further configured to calculate the AUW value at each layer of the IT stack starting with the data center layer of the IT stack and moving towards the end user layer of the IT stack.

9. The utility and warranty tool according to claim 6, the determination component further configured to calculate the RUW value and the AUW value using a mathematical model.

10. The utility and warranty tool according to claim 6, the determination component further configured to calculate the RUW value and the AUW value using actual observed values.

11. A computer-readable medium storing computer instructions, which when executed, enables a computer system to compare utility and warranty of services in an information technology (IT) stack comprising a plurality of layers, at least one of the layers having a set of services, the computer instructions comprising:

determining, at each layer of the IT stack, a required utility and warranty (RUW) value for each of the set of services, wherein the RUW value represents a desired solution for implementing a business process;

determining, at each layer of the IT stack, an available utility and warranty (AUW) value for each of the set of services, wherein the AUW value is a measure of an ability of each of the set of services to satisfy the RUW at each layer of the IT stack; and

comparing the RUW value against the AUW value at each layer of the IT stack to determine whether each of the set of services satisfies the desired solution for implementing the business process.

12. The computer-readable medium according to claim 11, the computer instructions for determining the RUW value further comprising calculating the RUW value at each layer of the IT stack starting with an end user layer of the IT stack and moving towards a data center layer of the IT stack.

13. The computer-readable medium according to claim 12, the computer instructions for determining further comprising calculating the AUW value at each layer of the IT stack starting with the data center layer of the IT stack and moving towards the end user layer of the IT stack.

14. The computer-readable medium according to claim 11, the computer instructions for determining the RUW value and the AUW value further comprising calculating the RUW value and the AUW value using a mathematical model.

15. The computer-readable medium according to claim 11, the computer instructions for determining the RUW value and the AUW value further comprising calculating the RUW value and the AUW value using actual observed values.

16. A method for comparing utility and warranty of services in an information technology (IT) stack comprising a plurality of layers, at least one of the plurality of layers having a set of services, the method comprising:

providing a computer infrastructure operable to;

determine, at each layer of the IT stack, a required utility and warranty (RUW) value for each of the set of services, wherein the RUW value represents a desired solution for implementing a business process;

determine, at each layer of the IT stack, an available utility and warranty (AUW) value for each of the set of services, wherein the AUW value is a measure of an ability of each of the set of services to satisfy the RUW at each layer of the IT stack; and

compare the RUW value against the AUW value at each layer of the IT stack to determine whether each of the set of services satisfies the desired solution for implementing the business process.

17. The method according to claim 16, the computer infrastructure further operable to calculate the RUW value at each layer of the IT stack starting with an end user layer of the IT stack and moving towards a data center layer of the IT stack.

18. The method according to claim 17, the computer infrastructure further operable to calculate the AUW value at each layer of the IT stack starting with the data center layer of the IT stack and moving towards the end user layer of the IT stack.

19. The method according to claim 16, the computer infrastructure further operable to calculate the RUW value and the AUW value using a mathematical model.

20. The method according to claim 16, the computer infrastructure further operable to calculate the RUW value and the AUW value using actual observed values.